Adrian Mander
In Biggles and the Plot That Failed, Adrian Mander was an amateur archaeologist whose disappearance in the Libyan desert prompted his father Brigadier Mander to seek the help of Air Commodore Raymond and the Air Police. As a young man, Adrian became fascinated by flying after meeting an R.A.F. pilot who had force-landed at his house in Surrey. He decided to make his career in the Air Force rather than follow the footsteps of his father into the army. While completing his studies at Oxford, Adrian also took flying lessons. When he turned twenty one, he inherited some money through a legacy from his deceeased mother and was able to buy a Piper Cub of his own. His life then took another turn when he met Sir Cedric Goodall, a noted archaeologist who was his father's house guest. Adrian became enamoured with the topic after listening to Sir Cedric's accounts of his discoveries and accepted an invitation to fly out to Jordan to visit an archaeological dig where he stayed for three weeks. There he met Hassan Sekunder who told him an old Arab had told him the location of a fabled tomb of an ancient Tuareg king, Ras Tenazza which was also near a mine where the monarch had obtained a fabulous collection of emeralds. Sekunder persuaded Adrian to join him in an air expedition to locate the mine, promising a half share in whatever was found. Although his father had his suspicions about Sekunder, Adrian persisted in the venture. He and Sekunder set off for Siwa and after transiting there for a few days, proceeded south in search of the location of the tomb, said to be about two to three hundred miles to the south, in the "Great Sand Sea". After Adrian and Sekunder found the tomb, Sekunder made off with the aircraft, leaving Adrian to die of thirst. Fortunately, Adrian found a pool of water in a cave and, together with dates from some palms, this enabled him to survive. While waiting for rescue, he explored the locale thoroughly and thus found the emerald mine near the tomb. After two months had passed, Biggles and his air police crew were sent, at Adrian's father's request, to search for him. However when Adrian met his rescuers, he surprised them by declaring that he wanted to stay on at the site of the tomb. He was certain Sekunder would soon return and he wanted to get even with him. Biggles could not force Adrian to come back with him, but in any case, they did not have long to wait. On the way south from Siwa, Biggles had spotted a caravan which appeared to be headed for them. When the caravan arrived and camped nearby, Adrian volunteered to scout out the newcomers to discover their intentions and see if Sekunder was among them. Adrian insisted that he was the best person for the job--he knew the terrain while Biggles and co. did not. Approaching the camp of the caravan, Adrian did indeed encounter Sekunder, now accompanied by a new partner, Nakish Bolzana whom he had persuaded to come on board because he had a power drill capable of opening up the tomb. Adrain pretended that he had all along expected Sekunder to come back for him and was delighted to see them. This gave Sekunder the excuse he needed to avoid difficult explanations to Bolzana who did not know of Sekunder's treachery. Sekunder explained that he had gone off on the spur of the moment to fetch heavier equipment to excavate the tomb but had met with an accident which delayed him. Adrian played along and made as though he was resuming the partnership wih Sekunder again. However, his hot temper soon got the better of him and he quarreled with Sekunder over the division of the spoils. Adrian insisted on his half share but Sekunder had now promised a half share to Bolzana. As a result, Sekunder ordered the Tuareg camel drivers in the caravan to set upon Adrian and tie him up (how this could have been done without Bolzana noticing was never explained). Biggles, Ginger and Bertie however found the caravan party and released Adrian. Sekunder might have intervened but he was too excited and preoccupied watching Bolzana drill into the tomb. Further confrontation with Sekunder was averted when he hastily inserted his hand into an opening in the tomb and got himself bitten by a scorpion. In the event, the tomb was found to contain nothing of value. Now with Sekunder out of the picture, a disappointed Adrian followed Biggles back to England. There he apologised to his father for doubting his opinion. He had, as Biggles averred, learnt a lesson he would remember for a long time. Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Air Police era characters